1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of draining liquids from a vessel, and more particularly to a device and method for draining liquids and other viscous materials from one vessel into another vessel.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In many instances it is desirable to remove contents from a vessel for a number of reasons. For example, the contents may be valuable or expensive, or scarce, and leaving behind some of the material can result in financial loss. In other cases, reuse of the containing vessel is required and to do so one must drain the vessel fully of all of its contents. There are yet further situations where the vessel contains a material which must be removed pursuant to federal, state and/or local laws. Often a residue will remain in a vessel of which the contents have been emptied. For example, where contents, such as a liquid, are poured from a vessel, a residual amount of the liquid often remains and is left behind in the vessel. This is especially the case for viscous liquids like molasses and sugar syrups, tar products for roofing and driveway coatings, paints and sealers, synthetic resins, and various other materials. Often, there is not time for the material to fully drain from the containment vessel and a residual amount of the material is left behind. This is observed in production facilities where large batches of a product are being made from material contained in one or more vessels. The need to have the material removed from the vessel for immediate use does not permit the full evacuation of the vessel contents.
In the ever-developing movement for conservation of resources, there is greater emphasis placed on the need to conserve materials, as well as to conserve landfill space that discarded or unwanted materials may occupy. A need exists to provide an improved method and device which will facilitate the evacuation of liquid materials from a vessel.
In many instances containment vessels are often large and cumbersome and can be extremely heavy. Generally, vessels containing liquids which are used in large scale industrial applications, for delivery of components in manufacturing operations, cannot even be lifted by a single individual, but rather, require special handling equipment to move and empty them. The special handling equipment is for the most part expensive and space consuming. This requires that heavy vessels which are to be lifted by the special handling equipment be readily removed from the equipment after the contents is poured out from the vessel. For example, industrial liquids are often supplied in large drum type vessels. These drum type vessels often contain a substantial amount of residual liquid, especially when the liquid contained therein is viscous, after the vessel has been tilted to pour its contents into a vat for use. While the drum vessel is indeed lighter, after having dumped most of its contents, it is still a substantially heavy item. While attempts have been made to drain the residue from the vessel, the weight and cumbersomeness of the vessel make for a difficult task.
In the use of drum type vessels, it is a common practice to recycle these vessels for reuse. The recycling process may include not only cleaning the vessel contents, but also, cutting an end of the vessel to remove embedded contents, or a damaged area, such as, for example, a broken sealing weld or connection. In many cases the vessels are provided to hold a standard amount of content, such as, for example, fifty-five gallons. Drum type vessels can be cut anywhere from fractions of inches to over one inch or more, and still be able to hold a desired amount, for example, fifty-five gallons, of material therein. The vessel height generally changes when the vessel is cut down, however, the diameter continues to remain the same.
One attempt known is to stack a vessel over another vessel at an angle. This often does not work well with heavy vessels, and further presents a dangerous condition in the work environment. The special handling pulleys or equipment can be used, but this is not practical since that equipment is expensive and must be available for pouring the contents from other vessels for use. Since the vessels have a considerable weight, the pulleys or vessel pouring equipment is often heavier and takes up a large amount of space, making it difficult to use such equipment for draining the remaining residue from a vessel. There exists a need for a device which is portable, light-weight, storable, uses minimal floor space and can readily be usable at a variety of locations, which will facilitate the draining of the residual contents from a vessel.
Prior attempts to provide draining devices include U.S. Pat. No.496,537 "Drainage Skid" issued May 2, 1893 to E. I. Perrington. The drainage skid provides a rigid device which permits a first vessel to be held over a second vessel at an incline to drain the contents of the first vessel into the second vessel. Other prior art drainage apparatus include U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,290 "Oil Can Draining Rack" issued on Sept. 24, 1957 to R. T. Hearn. The oil can draining rack includes a rigid cage for maintaining a standing can at a fixed position while supporting a second can at an inclined position relative to the standing can. A "Can Draining Rack" is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,788,262, issued on Jan. 6, 1931 to C. J. Wiebusch. The can draining rack includes a pair of arms which are connected by a yoke to support an inverted inclined can. A chain attached to the arms is provided to engage the top of the standing can.
The prior attempts to provide a draining apparatus require that the user lift the vessel and install it on the apparatus. A need exists for a portable draining device which can facilitate lifting and maintaining a drum into a position for draining.